Disney+ has officially launched, bringing Disney's massive streaming service to a huge audience. If you aren't sure about something, like how much the service should cost or how you can stream it, Talk Android is here to help.
Keep an eye on this guide for all of the need-t0-know info.
Disney+ Price
Disney announced that Disney+ would cost just $6.99 per month. That's really cheap compared to what you get, since this has most of Disney's catalog up for streaming, plus content from other things like they own like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Star Wars franchise, and Fox movies and shows.
If that's not tempting enough, they're also offering a bundle that costs $12.99 and includes ad-supported Hulu, ESPN+, and Disney+, all for one price. That's basically a buy-two-get-one-free deal on all of Disney's owned services and covers a ton of television, movie, and sports content. There's no option to upgrade the Hulu portion to ad-free, however.
Additionally, if you have a Verizon unlimited plan, you can snag a free year of Disney+ right now. Just follow Verizon's instructions to redeem it.
How to stream Disney+
Disney wants their content to be available on as many devices as possible, and despite some worrying early reports of missing boxes, most things on the market can stream Disney+.
Any modern web browser should work, including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Internet Explorer, assuming you're on newer versions of Windows or MacOS. Mobile browsers will not work, however, and neither will any browser on Linux, at least officially. You also won't be able to stream Disney+ on browsers built-in to smart TVs, game consoles, or similar situations. You'll need an app.
Fortunately, there are a ton of apps. You can download an app on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store for both smartphones and tablets, although you'll need to be running Android 5.0 Lollipop or newer. Hopefully that's not an issue for most of you.
On your TV you can use most modern streaming devices, including Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Roku, plus Android TV devices and smart TVs from LG and Sony. Content from Disney+ can also be streaming over Google Cast or Apple AirPlay. On supported devices you can also download everything here for offline playback. Great for trips!
Supported formats
Obviously a big chunk of Disney's catalog is old, but when it's available they'll stream content in the best possible resolution. Supported movies played on supported movies will be streamed in 4K HDR with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, including all of the Star Wars movies. If you ever needed a reason to go back and rewatch them, getting a revamp on the video and audio for those movies should do the trick. Again, not everything here will support it, but Disney is clearly invested in making this service as high-quality as possible.
Disney+ will also allow you to stream from 4 devices at once, which should be enough for most families.
What to watch
Disney has added a massive catalog of content that they already own, including all first-party Disney movies (think The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Frozen, etc.) as well as content from other things that they own, ranging from Marvel to Star Wars to National Geographic to Fox. That means you can stream the entirety of The Simpsons on Disney+ after you're done catching up on your favorite superhero movies, then jump over into some educational content. There's a little something for everyone, and while Disney's not pumping out mature HBO-like content, there are things that adults can enjoy, too. Not just kid-friendly cartoons.
On top of that, Disney is working on fully original content for Disney+ that won't be available anywhere else. Shows like The Mandalorian are designed for Star Wars fanatics, and they plan to expand the Marvel universe with several Disney+ shows based around certain characters that may not have their own feature film in theaters, like Scarlett Witch. There are movies, too, like a live-action Lady & The Tramp remake.
What's missing
However, not 100% of Disney's franchises are here. There are already some deals in place to secure content that has previously been licensed out, like Star Wars movies that were streaming on Starz, but other movies will have to wait out their deals before they can be added to Disney+. Solo is a notable movie missing from the catalog, especially with how new it is. Netflix is still hanging on to the rights to The Last Jedi, so you'll have to wait until the end of the year for that to be available, assuming you don't already have a Netflix subscription.
